Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-07-21
HOW COMETS ARE FOUND.
Interesting Information Imparted by 49,
tronomer barnard.

Interesting Information Inparted by 49,
tronouer barnard
Prof. E. E. Barnard, the astronomer
of the Vanderbilt University. was asked
the other day how comets are found.
besides a knowledge of astronomy
and telescope" was his reply, 1.-The
eonet-seeker must have large stock
of patience and perseverance,"
but will you not tell me how you do
ita''
Then, pleasantly, as Mr.. Barnard al
ways does things, he showed his instTu-
ments of observation, the while talking
of his work il a most entertaining way.
But before making an effort to repeat
the substance of show n comet. is
sought the reporter would say a word
about the '.tools'' with which the as
tronomer works.
In the low, sOlidly-built, spherical
rooted observatory are three telescopes.
Each of these is on foundations of stone,
set upon the solid rock far down IN the
ground. One is immovable, except in a
single direction. 1t is hung between
two massive posts of stone and metal,
so as to sweep a narrow strip of sky
from north TO south. This is used for
watching the stars cross the meridian,
and regulate the time. Another, and
larger one, which is used for comet
seeking, is hung upon Il pivot, so as to
turn in any and all possible directions.
and that by the slightest possible move
ment- Attached to this are various in
genious devices for controlling and reg
ulating its movements. The dome of
the low tower in which this instrument
is placed is movable, and is turned in
any direction by means of very simple
and easily managed mechanism
One of the most intelligent and use
full of the many instruments in the OBJ
servatory is the chronograph. This is
an ingenious little machine, run by
clockwork, and which, by means of
electric connections, the observer can
note the exact time, to the hundredth
part of a second, that n star crosses
the meridian. The working of this
can not well be described. In the same
room are the different clocks by which
the various times are kept for the regu-
lations of the tower clock. While these
instruments are being shown and their
uses explained, the astronomer gave
the information about comet-seeking.
which the reporter gives below. The
reader would be much more pleased
with the story just as it was told by Mr..
Barnard, if he could get it that way
which he can not.
Comet seeking requires more pa
tience and perseverance than the aver
age reader would be aware of. No one
can tell whether a comet is anywhere
visible in the sky, so the patient
searcher begins to examine the heavens
in hopes that he may discover one OF
these wanderers as it steals in from the
depths of space on its pilgrimage to the
sun. There is a strong intuition that
the region near the sun will more
likely yield a comet, SO that the
comet searcher pays special at
tentiOn mornings and evenings to
that region. This is natural, because
comets being non-luminous masses of
gas, they are very faint, or only be-.
come visible when they have APP
preached comparatively near the sun.
They should, therefore, be more
likely to be found when so placed, yet
this rule is not infallible inasmuch. as
in the past few years quite as many if
not more comets have been found in
that part of the sky opposite the sun
or in fact distributed equally all over
the heavens. But these are all faint
and require close searching and dill
gence on the part of the comet-seeker.
When it is known that any one part
of the sky that can be examined at any
by the searcher's telescope
can readily be bIotted out by the end
Of the little finger held at arms length,
and the Vastness of the heavens that is
spread out for him to examine, and
The knowledge that the old saying,
hunting for needle in a hay-stack,"
S infinitely too feeble in comparison
with the chances of finding one of
hese faint wandering masses of fog is
AIKEN into account, one is prepared to
'ealize the forlorn hope with which
he comet-seeker begins his labors and
,asiJy explains why so many undertake
t and give it up without having re-
corded one comet. The more the
prepares himself with the
knowledge of the vast chances against
lis success the more certain he is to
ucceed.-M. Y. Graphic.
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